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What began with fans and even players here in Winnipeg optimistic the lockout lockdown was loosening ended with bitter discord as talks in New York broke down.

And now the two sides aren’t even speaking the same language anymore, raising the real possibility of another entire season ending up in the dumpster.

Players union boss Don Fehr’s end-of-the-day claim the two sides were closer than ever, with agreement on the No. 1 issue — money — seemed to echo what Jets forward Bryan Little was saying in the morning.

“We’re holding out and waiting to see what happens in the next 72 hours,” Little said. “Hopefully it’s all good news. Some of the guys are pretty excited. There’s definitely optimism. From what I hear it’s been mainly positive.”

Jets captain Andrew Ladd wasn’t disagreeing.

“It would be awful to lose a season,” Ladd said. “We don’t need to do that. We’re close enough here to find some common ground and get a deal done. But that takes some continuing give and take.”

Ladd added a word of caution, though, and perhaps that should have been our clue about what was to come.

“This whole process keeps telling you to be cautious about what to expect,” he said. “When we finally have a deal, that’s when I’ll be optimistic.”

“We thought we were onto something good,” Bettman said in New York, crediting the new group of owners, which included the Jets Mark Chipman, with making real progress. “Particularly the four new ones... wanted to push ahead and do something bold.”

So, Bettman says, they threw another $100 million onto the table.

And the players, apparently, were supposed to fall down on their knees, be thankful and sign on the dotted line.

“The union’s response was shockingly silent,” the commish said. “The owners were beside themselves. Some I have never seen that emotional.”

At that point, those owners said it was over.

But, again according to Bettman, the owners made “another bold move,” this time on contracting issues (free agency, arbitration rights), which had been a line in the sand for the players.

The union then came back, we’re told, and said the pension was their main concern.

Eventually, the whole thing fell apart, although Fehr emerged early in the evening to say the two sides were close.

If you believe Bettman, Fehr is simply “cherry-picking” items from the NHL’s last offer, while ignoring other parts of what is “a package deal.”

“It’s not the first time he said we’re close when we’re not,” Bettman said in New York. “I find it almost incomprehensible that he did that.”

By night time, the four owners, including Chipman, were releasing statements that ranged from apologies to their fans and sponsors (Chipman) to a questioning of Fehr’s intentions (Ron Burkle, Pittsburgh, and Larry Tanenbaum, Toronto).

I don’t know if Fehr’s presence derailed things, but the owners just don’t like him. Jets player rep Ron Hainsey reportedly said someone from NHL ownership said bringing Fehr back in “could be a deal-breaker.”

Right now, this deal seems broken, all right.

Remember, though, there’s still more than a month to go before hopes of a 48-game season go down the drain, at least based on the timeline from the 2004-05 lockout.

As for the vitriol from both sides, Ladd says even that isn’t the end of the world.

“Even negotiating contracts, there’s always ups and downs and emotions involved,” Ladd said. “At the end of the day both sides know it’s a business, and we’ve been through that before. No hard feelings.”

I’m not so sure about that.

MARK CHIPMAN STATEMENT

“I’d like to thank the NHL for giving me the opportunity to participate in this very important process.

I came here optimistic that we could find a solution. That sense of optimism grew after our first few sessions, including the small group discussions late last night.

Regrettably, we have been unable to close the divide on some critical issues that we feel are essential to the immediate and long-term health of our game.

While I sense there are some members of the players association that understand our perspective on these issues, clearly there are many that don’t.

I am deeply disappointed that we were unable to bring this extremely unfortunate situation to a successful conclusion and I wish to apologize to our fans and sponsors for letting them down.”

Day of great promise ends in shambles

What began with fans and even players here in Winnipeg optimistic the lockout lockdown was loosening ended with bitter discord as talks in New York broke down.

And now the two sides aren’t even speaking the same language anymore, raising the real possibility of another entire season ending up in the dumpster.

Players union boss Don Fehr’s end-of-the-day claim the two sides were closer than ever, with agreement on the No. 1 issue — money — seemed to echo what Jets forward Bryan Little was saying in the morning.

“We’re holding out and waiting to see what happens in the next 72 hours,” Little said. “Hopefully it’s all good news. Some of the guys are pretty excited. There’s definitely optimism. From what I hear it’s been mainly positive.”